


Where Angels Fall

by SakuraAlexia



Category: Borderlands
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-12
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-08-30 13:57:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8535829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakuraAlexia/pseuds/SakuraAlexia
Summary: She had to wait a bit more, just a bit longer and then she would be finally free of Jack’s control, free of being used and free from this prison once and for all. Yes, she would, tomorrow it would be the day when it all ended.





	1. Tomorrow

The Highlands, a beautiful display of rocky and grassy high cliffs capable of giving an absolute breathtaking view of this vicious planet named Pandora. In this apparently peaceful display the loud and distinct engine of a Bandit Technical could be heard in the distance.

“Are we there yet?” Gaige asked from the back of the technical, evidently impatient.

“Not yet my friend/ Be patient/ Enjoy the trip” Zero answered her, hands on the wheel and eyes fixed on the road ahead of them, Gaige flopped back in a seated position with an irritated sigh.

“I need to blow up some stuff, now” the peppy redhead tapped her foot on the floor of the vehicle restlessly to emphasize her point.

“STRIP THE FLESH!” Krieg yelled waving his axe in the air enthusiastically.

“What Krieg said…” Gaige sweatdropped, though it was pretty accurate.

“Calm down you two, Maya how much further?” Axton interjected rolling to face them from his position in the turret after having shot down yet another Stalker that tried to approach the technical.

The siren calmly pulled out her ECHO device and consulted the map, her grey eyes scanning the holographic projection before her.

“We should be near…” she said standing up and glancing around, she pointed at city with some impressively tall buildings not much farther from them, after having glanced at the map one last time “There it is! That’s definitely Opportunity”

The others in the back rose from their seated position to look as well, a big shining city with tall buildings and glass windows was ahead of them, it definitely looked way too rich for Pandora’s standards, it was evident that Jack didn’t mind on how much money he spent to build it only for the sole purpose to show that he was so damn rich, and wanted to make them feel poor and worthless.

“Up ahead amigo!” Salvador shouted at Zero accompanied by the Psycho who was loudly yelling out nonsense as well.

“Full speed Zero, let’s go!” Gaige joined them and, having been by his enthusiastic companions the assassin gave in and without hesitation pressed the boost button, his mask projecting a smiley emoticon. 

The technical accelerated to its full speed in the mere fraction of a second, zooming on the bridge that connected the Highlands with Opportunity, skidding to a complete halt right at the entrance of the city. As soon as they were in Angel made contact.

“To breach the final door to my chambers you’ll need to be Jack. That means passing a bio-scan and speaking a password in his voice. If you can kill one of Jack’s body doubles in Opportunity I can get you through that door” she explained.

“So then let’s kill ourselves a copy of a jackass!” Gaige yelled pulling out an shotgun.

“I SHALL CRUSH THE YELLOW PUPPETS WITH MY HANDS!”

“Let’s split up in groups, we can find it faster this way” Axton says, his military side emerging, result of years of training in the Dahl military “I go with Sal, Gaige goes with Zero then Krieg with Maya” he instructs pointing at each of them as he says their names, the others nodded and they split up through the maze of Opportunity, some making more noise than others.

 

Angel watched as the Vault Hunters divided in groups of two like the soldier instructed and sighed, she flapped her wings to get closer to the screens to watch better, wincing as the strings of Eridium she was attached to threatened to pull her back to her previous position, she turned to glare at the injectors, if she only could destroy them herself…

She glanced back at the screens that showed the view of Opportunity just like she wanted them to, where the battle between the Vault Hunters and the Hyperion forces was now taking place. Angel never felt so jealous of the six hunters as much as now, they could come and go whenever and wherever they wanted, they could explore places every time they desired not to mention that this time they would also get to kill Jack, it was still a clone but she had no doubt they would take pleasure from the experience, today it was like a small gratification for everything they’ve been put through from the real one. While she was confined in this damn room between dozens of screens, constantly attached to these three damn injectors that pumped her full of Eridium all day and night, not allowing her to get any kind of rest or relief, and of course there was the Vault Key she was forced to charge.

The same key all Vault Hunters so much desired, and she, had every intention of handing it over to them, this way she would get rid of the item of her torture, disrupting her father’s, no, Handsome Jack’s plans. She clenched her fists, he was no more her father, he lost that title long ago when he confined her here like you do with a disobedient animal, just because she had the misfortune, she couldn’t call this a blessing, to be born siren.

She returned her attention back to the battle just in time to see the siren pull a Hyperion soldier into one of her dimensional bubbles, Phaselock she believed it was called and Angel briefly wondered how much different Maya’s ability was from her own, but regardless it was equally interesting to see.

Amazed blue eyes scanned the screens once more, observing each Vault Hunter as they fought their way through Opportunity.

 

“Anarchy forever!” Gaige shouted as she fired a burst from her Torgue shotgun at a dangerously close range from an Hyperion Soldier, the addictive explosive effect of the bullets made blood and guts fly everywhere around her and on her, splattering on her clothes and she laughed, running straight for another soldier that met the exact same end.

Not too far away there was the sound of an explosion, Deathtrap clapped his enormous hands together creating a wave of energy, the blast destroying several Loaders near him. He turned on himself to join with the Mechromancer once more, just in time for his optical sensors to see an Engineer sneaking up on his creator, and a shot to the head taking it out immediately.

Up on the higher levels, armed with his trustworthy sniper rifle was Zero, he knew his young companion was going to run straight into the face of their enemies shooting everything she made eye contact with, she was far too predictable, so he covered her when her robot couldn’t. He noticed a Loader charging to him, and another right behind it, he entered Deception placing an hologram right in front of them, the Loaders charged at the hologram but the real Zero was long gone, he thrusted his sword into them from the back, one after the other as his hologram faded.

Seeing that Gaige already cleared the path forward the Assassin swiftly jumped down on the lower level joining the younger girl.

“Let’s keep going/ We must find the clone/ And kill it” Zero speaks.

“Heck yeah!” Gaige yelled taking off with her robot companion and the Assassin close behind.

 

Not too far from them sounds of multiple explosions could be heard along with a loud, raucous laughter, a large amount of pieces of various kinds of Loaders and big splatters of blood laid on the ground around the Gunzerker, he had a rocket launcher on each shoulder.

“ADIOS PENDEJOS!!” he yelled as he shot down another couple of Loaders, their parts flying everywhere.

“Nice one!” Axton shouted from near him as he threw his turret on the field to cover them. “Go get ‘em, honey!” he took cover behind the turret to reload his rifle as the machine tore down enemy after enemy. He shot a couple of rounds to some Hyperion soldiers before rejoining with Salvador once more.

“Come on let’s go” he managed to say before being knocked down from the impact of a Constructor landing in front of them. “Oh for fuck’s sake!” Axton groaned getting back up, the Gunzerker coming to his aid shooting a rocket to cover his friend before cursing loudly realizing to be out of ammunitions on both launchers.

They watched in horror as the machine took damage but managed to charge up its missiles despite being half destroyed, Axton’s turret also choose the wrong time to digistruct back into the soldier’s ECHO and he swore multiple times, knowing there was no escape, he just hoped their shields could be able to hold the damage. But before the Constructor could shoot a stream of bullets flew from behind them, covering the machine in acid, it fell apart.

“You owe me one boys!” a distinct female voice called behind them, the two turned to face a certain blue haired siren, a corrosive SMG in hand, with Krieg behind her that was cutting though every enemy that approached while cackling maniacally. 

“Gracias chica” Salvador lightly chuckled, taking the opportunity of a brief moment of inaction to pull out another weapon as his rocket launchers were out of commission.

“You saved our asses, remind me to return the favor” Axton winked in her direction. “I’m counting on it soldier” Maya snorted. “Let’s keep going now, we should be near” she continues as she jogs past them both, the Psycho in tow.

Just like the siren said they found the body double near a fountain, as soon as he spotted them though he started running in the opposite direction, but unluckily for him Zero and Gaige, along with Deathtrap intercepted him, the Mechromancer shooting at the clone with a pistol, she managed to hit the clone in the leg, he stumbled and Maya took the chance to catch him in her Phaselock.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she smirks holding her arm forward, her markings glowing brightly, the man she caught screamed as he burned inside the orb until he could no more, she dropped the remains with little care.

As soon as the double was dead Angel made contact once more instructing them to take the pocketwatch device to use it to create a voice modulator to use later on, Maya briefly wondered how the thing didn’t get burned but decided not to question it. Zero got the watch and the AI told them to collect voice samples to be able to make the modulator, the assassin nodded and took off to do that as his companions watched his back.

 

Angel watched as the assassin dashed though the streets of Opportunity, occasionally activating Deception to trick the enemies and run away from them, the confused people, or Loaders were promptly killed or destroyed by the other Hunters. She had to admit that the Vault Hunters formed a nice team, they were weird, they were all different yet they worked together as if they did it for their entire life.

Friendship was a powerful thing, something she never had the occasion to experience, always hidden from everything and everyone even before she was confined here. She sighed, shaking away her unpleasant thoughts to focus on the task at hand. She knew the Vault Hunters didn’t trust her completely anymore after Jack forced her to betray them against her will, that was why she was still helping them, she couldn’t blame them for hating her but they were the only people she could ask for help, everything was okay as long as they freed her from this prison. And hopefully they would, they must be happy to put a bullet in her head after all she did she guessed, no, she knew they were.

The siren was interrupted from her musings once more as Zero sent her the first sample, she winced as Jack’s voice invaded her ears, she hated it so much, still, using her Phaseshift she uploaded the sample into the watch in the Assassin’s possession. She did it four more times before actually managing to create the actual modulator, but at least now the Hunters had what they needed.

 

Zero rejoined with the others when he was done, he was pleased to see that they had cleaned up the place and they didn’t appear hurt as well, all the blood on them was their enemies one. His helmet projected a smile as he triumphantly showed the pocketwatch.

“We are done here/ Let’s go back/ Long day tomorrow” he spoke, trying out the modulator as well, he frowns right after “As my voice changes/ I cannot help but feel wrong/ I sound like a jerk” the others just laughed as he said so.

As they walked back they were contacted by Angel once more, this time though they heard her howling in pain and also the sounds of electricity being used, Maya stopped in place, a sudden feeling of uneasiness washing over her, hearing the other girl in pain made the hair on the back of her head stand on edge, she frowned, wondering why it happened.

“What’s wrong?” Axton asked, noticing her troubled expression, completely ignoring whatever Jack was saying to them on the ECHO.

Maya shook herself out of her thoughts. “It’s nothing…” she says. “I’m just tired”

The soldier nodded, he wasn’t entirely convinced but he decided not to push further, he learned that the siren didn’t like when people stuck their noses in her business, if she had to tell something she would have said so herself. 

 

Angel’s body spasmed as the electric shock from her collar passed through her, she would have fallen to the ground it if wasn’t for the excess of power surging through her caused by the Eridium that kept her markings glowing constantly and her wings always active, the siren didn’t remember when was the last time her feet touched the ground. She just hovered there, breathing deeply, waiting for the effects of the shock to pass.

She winced as Jack’s voice invaded her head once more. “Say goodbye to your friends Angel, say it!” he snarled, she grit her teeth and sighed “See you soon” it was all she said, she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of getting what he wanted from her, not anymore. On the other side she could hear Jack sending an irritated growl to her before ending the conversation and Angel allowed herself a small smile.

She had to wait a bit more, just a bit longer and then she would be finally free of Jack’s control, free of being used and free from this prison once and for all. Yes, she would, tomorrow it would be the day when it all ended.

"Tomorrow it will be over, it will be all over" she sighed, a tiny smile still present on her lips.

 

Back in Sanctuary Roland congratulated with the Vault Hunters for the successful result of the mission, he gave instructions of what the next day they had to do, everyone agreed to them, everyone beside a single person, Lilith. As soon as Roland told her that she had to stay in Sanctuary instead of following them things got heated pretty quickly.

“This isn’t a discussion. You’re not going without me. Period” she angrily pointed at his chest, she knew that out of all of them she was the strongest person, she was a siren, the most powerful one of the entire planet too, yet for such an important thing Roland wanted her to stay back, she couldn’t accept it.

“Look, I need you here protecting Sanctuary. If this turns out to be a trap I need you to keep these people safe” he told her, from their experience Angel couldn’t be trusted, she betrayed them too many times and he didn’t want to risk that all he managed to create going to pieces.

“Is this because Angel told me not to come? It is isn’t it?” she retaliated, she had no idea why the AI warned her but she didn’t want to listen to a traitor.

“Lilith, damnit would you just trust me? Okay?” he stammered, this woman was so stubborn sometimes, if she would listen to reason for once…

“If you get killed, I’m going to be really pissed” she growled. “Noted” he nodded.

“If you live, I’m tearing those clothes right off your body” she smirked and he blushed lightly. “Also noted” he managed to say, somehow keeping a straight face. Mordecai made a rather disgusted noise at the comment.

“Lilith we’re standing right here. Nobody wants to hear that” he said. “Go on” Brick urged instead. The siren rolled her yellow eyes while the soldier just covered his face briefly to hide the fact that he was blushing. There was a general noise of laughs and snickers from the other Vault Hunters, which of course heard every word.

“Anyway, you all get a good rest, tomorrow will be a long day” Roland said when he got over his embarrassment.

As they split up Axton caught the other siren of the group with yet another frown on her face, she was leaning against the wall of the balcony with her back facing the streets of Sanctuary, her arms were crossed and she appeared deep in thought. He approached her placing himself at her side.

“Is something troubling you?” he asked, it was rare to catch Maya like this, it was unusual to see her this worried after a mission, when she was it didn’t mean anything good. 

“It’s about Angel” she spoke softly.

“What about her?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Before, when we saw she was shocked I felt… weird…” Axton remained silent, waiting for her to continue. “I know I shouldn’t care for her, and honestly I don’t but somehow I was… worried” she sighed. “I haven’t felt like this since we met Lilith” she admitted.

“I don’t think I understand” 

“You see even before we reached her I felt this sensation stuck here in my chest” she emphasized her point by placing her marked hand above her heart, the soldier tried hard not to stare at something else in that same area.

“As if I knew that she was in danger, and in fact she was, and now it happened again with Angel” she explained.

“It could be something you sirens share then” he said then frowned right after. “But Angel isn’t a siren, she’s an AI”

“That’s what I can’t figure out, why it happened with her, we aren’t even friends or anything” the siren ruffled her hair in frustration.

“Well tomorrow we’ll be able to meet her, hopefully you’ll be able to ask her” the soldier placed a hand on Maya’s shoulder, she resisted the urge to pull away.

“I guess you’re right” he nodded. “Let’s turn in for the night, it’s been a long day and who knows what’s waiting for us out there?” again he nodded and exchanged goodnight as they parted ways.

“I just hope we’ll make it out alive”


	2. Nothing can stop us

“Damn Hyperion! We aren’t even there and they’re already throwing shit at us!” Gaige growled while shooting down an EXP Loader before it could get to her, her shield absorbing the force of the shockwave.

“Maybe because they don’t want to us to get to Angel, don’t you think?” Axton panted as he trudged ahead on the burned ground. 

“Well its nothing we can’t handle” Maya replies taking down another Loader, Krieg tore down one next to her.

“Hey Minions! You coming or not!?” Claptrap shouted hiding behind some bricks, the other hunters didn’t have the slightest idea how he managed to get there before them and completely unharmed, or how did that pile of bricks to remain intact.

“Shut up you stupid robot!” the Mechromancer yelled back at it, she loved robots but Claptrap was just too annoying even for her, Deathtrap was so much better, and besides she built him, that was even more awesome.

“THE YELLOW CUBE MAKES MY EARS BLEED!” Krieg roared, unleashing his rage on a nearby Loader.

“Annoying” was Zero’s comment, he was patient but even he had his limits.

“Just open the freaking door!” Salvador screamed at it, he drew out one of his Rocket Launchers in the process, he was pleased to see the robot pass the force field that was keeping them out to do his job, he was so close at shooting at Claptrap, he wasn’t afraid to do so and knew the others felt the same.

Axton saw the Gunzerker take out a rocket launcher and decided to stop him from using it to keep it for later. “Sal, put the launcher away, we might need it later”

“You’re no fun amigo” the short man replied.

“I know you don’t like it but we’ve got to keep the heavy weaponry for later, we don’t know what’s in there, we better not waste everything so soon” the soldier explained. “Everyone got that?” he got a series of affirmative words in reply, or yells in Krieg’s case, but nonetheless he understood as he was using his axe mostly. He either loved it that much or he wasn’t much interested in guns, he was still a Psycho after all.

As soon as Claptrap deactivated the death wall the hunters advanced ahead on the dock, the robot told them he would protect them, but as soon as enemies started approaching he fled.

“Typical…” Maya groaned, wondering what the hell she was expecting from him. But anyway the annoying robot was there to deactivate the force field that would have killed them and he did, for whatever reason he had, his job was done now.

A turret popped out from the left side, but Zero’s excellent sniping skills took it down in seconds before it could shoot, this allowed his companions to go ahead as more enemies appeared from the containers, they were quickly disposed of as well though.

That moment during the fight Jack contacted them, he was bragging so much about this bunker thing that from what he said should have destroyed them, based from what the Hyperion CEO said Axton was more than happy of his decision to keep the most powerful weapons they had for later, hopefully it would be enough, unless what Jack said was true, though for all the time they had been on Pandora he had never been, when it came to killing them at least. They were still there, alive and kicking ass, no matter what he threw at them.

A Constructor floated outside of a container and posed itself in their way, flanked by numerous WAR Loaders, Field Turrets and Hyperion Soldiers. Feeling threatened Axton deployed his own turret and Gaige called Deathtrap into the fight as well, the hunters sought shelter behind the containers.

The Sabre made quick work of the less powerful turrets allowing the hunters to come out of their hiding place now that the biggest nuisance was out of the way. The Constructors never moved from their places and the soldiers were humans and didn’t have a perfect aim or very powerful weapons, the Loaders could be kept at distance, but turrets were always something tough to deal with, they shot well, hard and fast.

Deathtrap instead clawed at the bigger robots with his digistruct claws being careful to avoid their own hits. Gaige and Axton gave him a hand with their own guns to take them down. Once they were destroyed, Deathtrap floated over near the turret aiding it in shooting down the Constructor with his electric beams. Zero was also busy taking the big machine down by shooting it right in its eye.

Maya phaselocks a Soldier as Salvador shoots at the others while Krieg is busy slashing and tearing them with his axe, the Psycho didn’t notice he was getting too close to the still barely active Constructor and got in the ring of fire the machine created right before exploding for the excessive damage dealt to it.

Instead of screaming in pain the Psycho just laughed hysterically as the fire burned him, or at least he would if it wasn’t for his shield, still having a shield didn’t mean you couldn’t feel the pain when you got hurt, yet Krieg didn’t seem to be bothered by it at all, on the contrary, he loved pain. He wasn’t much different from the other psychos on this.

Gaige approached him. “You okay big guy?”

‘Say yes, come on its easy’ the Psycho’s inner voice urged. “THE MEAT IS ALIVE!” he yelled instead. ‘Close enough’ the coherent side of him said.

“I’ll take it as a yes” the Mechromancer smiled brightly at him.

During the time the other Vault Hunters knew Krieg they somehow learned to understand most of his ramblings, and from what Maya said he was also improving himself, when he was alone he was still talking nonsense but when he was with someone else he tried, for as tough as it was, to say something even if not that much coherent, at least similar to something a sane person would say. And it was getting easier and easier as the time passed as now all of them knew, pretty much, the meaning of his strange synonyms. 

The siren had been right since the beginning, he was different from the others, more sane, if that meant something at all for a Psycho.

The moment they saw Krieg was good enough to continue, Roland contacted them, he was making his way in the facility as well, luckily from the sound of it, it didn’t seem like he was having that many problems, meaning the Vault Hunters were doing their job right, the Hyperion forces were too busy fighting them to notice Roland sneaking into the place.

Axton urged them forward. “Watch out! Mortars!” he yelled.

The group ran as fast as they could doing their best to stay out of the target circles on the ground, as soon as they thought they were safe one of the bombs exploded behind Maya, her shields absorbed the impact but the shockwave sent her flying into Axton, which fell as well with the siren on top of him.

“Ow…” he grunted, he opened his eyes and was met with the siren’s face that was inches from his.

“I-I’m sorry” she scrambled to get up from him, he swore he saw a slight red tinge to her cheeks but he couldn’t quite place it, he had no idea if sirens could blush at all.

“Come on lovebirds! We got shit to kill!” Gaige called, she giggled at the sight though, wishing she had a camera to take a picture.

“Wha… oh yeah” the soldier picked himself off the ground “Zero take the turrets out, you guys get ready, a ton of bad guys will come out as soon as we open that door”

Quick and precise the sniper took out the turrets in seconds and like Axton predicted, as soon as the door opened a barrage of WAR Loaders and Hyperion Soldiers charged at them.

Taking the initiative Deathtrap shot at the loaders with his electric beams, he took them down with the aid of Maya’s corrosive SMG, she was out of bullets on her pistol already, pretty much like everyone else, these damn people and their machines always ate through their supplies as it they were bread. Besides Krieg, he always preferred his Buzz-Axe to bullets.

The others took care of the Soldiers swiftly, the Psycho laughing maniacally as blood and guts splattered all over him, he waved his bulky arms shouting ‘blood’ in a cycle. Salvador joined the laughter.

“There’s more too amigo! Hahahaha!” 

Surprisingly ahead of them there was nobody else, which was weird, they ran up a fleet of stairs and at turret shot at them, it was too good to be true, the siren made quick work of it though.

“There must be a Constructor near” she says, they knew these turrets way too well by now to know they were linked to one of those machines.

Exactly how she said there was a badass one on the upper level, a couple of soldiers made their way to them as well, though Krieg charged at them as well, Axton following him, the Commando threw his turret on the field to give support to the rest of the group fighting against the Constructor. It took quite some effort from the remaining hunters and Axton’s turret to destroy it but they managed.

Without other enemies the group could take a breath for a little bit. “Let’s check around and see if there’s anything useful, healing hypos or ammo” Axton panted, he took the occasion to approach Maya.

“You okay?” he asks, he didn’t get the chance to check on her after she fell on him, he would have found it amusing if it wasn’t because they were in the middle of a battlefield, and Maya wasn’t a person you could call clumsy.

“Yeah, nothing that didn’t I didn’t experience already” she shrugs, though he could see a bit of discomfort as she did so, when she turned to grab some ammunitions for her SMG he could see why. Even if her shields managed to absorb the impact he could see that her yellow bodysuit was burned in some places, between her shoulders in particular, that explained her previous reaction, but a strong woman like her would never admit she was in pain.

“Regardless, I’m glad you’re safe” he places a hand on her tattooed shoulder before leaving her to find some supplies for himself. The siren watched him with an eyebrow raised, she had expected one of his cocky comments not this, still it felt good to know that at least someone cared for her. The thought bringing a smile to her lips. 

“Are we ready to continue?” Axton asked as the group rejoined, he got a series of nods and so they resumed their mission. 

As they approached the Bunker, Jack called them telling them the way he got the Vault Key, bragging so much on how he and his friend tortured the poor Tannis, that woman might have been crazy, but nobody should suffer at the hands of Handsome Jack, that might have explained part of her behavior too.

 

Those times had been fun, very fun, probably one of the best things he ever did, he remembered that crazy scientist’s broken face as he snatched away the key from her frail hands.

He enjoyed slicing her open every non-lethal place he could find, just small cuts at time, not enough to do serious harms but enough to spill more blood each time. Still no matter how many times he drove the blade into her, she wouldn’t let go of the key, always clutched tightly in her hand, so he had Wilhelm do what was best, he had him break her fingers, slowly, one by one, until eventually she let go of the artifact. She screamed, of course she did, and he liked every second of it.

In the end they had left with what they came for and let her be, beaten, bruised and bleeding, but still breathing, if she survived or not was none of their business.

 

As soon as the Vault Hunters entered the large structure known as the Bunker they were contacted by Brick, he informed them that he sent some air support but also that the cannons of the Bunker was killing them all, he urged the hunters to dispose of the cannons.

“Let’s get a move then, Krieg cover us against the Loaders, I’ll have my turret help you” Axton instructed, yelling loudly the Psycho charged at the incoming Loaders, the soldier threw his turret out in the middle of the field for support.

“I can be useful too!” Gaige said as she called Deathtrap on the battlefield, he immediately went to help Krieg with killing the other robots, slashing at them with his claws.

“We shall get rid of the cannons, before they kill all our supports” the Commando managed to say before wincing when one of the buzzards hit the ground exploding in million pieces.

That didn’t take too long as the Auto-Cannons focused mostly on the buzzard supports, Maya’s corrosive SMG did most of the work, with some help from Zero’s sniper rifle. The most annoying thing were the lasers that activated when one of the machines were destroyed, but nothing some well-made jumps couldn’t deal with, or their shields when they failed to dodge them.

When they thought to be done there was a loud rumble, up on the center platform a huge aircraft lifted itself from the ground. “Oh shit…” Axton whispered.

“Oh fuck…” Gaige paled.

“Hijo de puta…” Salvador growled, obviously referring to Jack.

“Well it was nice knowing you” Maya says “Pretty lady…” Krieg murmured.

“It’s not time for goodbyes/ We’re still here/ So we fight” Zero says trying to encourage the others, they had to try until they were dead for real. They faced tough enemies, they could face this thing too.

Shaking his head Axton regained a bit more of sense back “Zero’s right, we can do this!” he yelled. “Come on, let’s get the heavy artillery out and take down this thing!”

“Corrosion always works on machines” Maya reloads her SMG and takes the initiative in shooting the aircraft, Salvador followed her example and hoisting both of his rocket launchers on his shoulders started shooting as well.

As soon as they started shooting it the Bunker started shooting back at them too with his Auto-Cannons, forcing the hunters to take cover, luckily for them their air supports came to their aid, shooting the machine while they couldn’t, but their luck was short lived as another Buzzard crashed to the ground exploding in pieces.

“Oh fuck you! You damn huge thing!” Axton yelled shooting at the aircraft with his assault rifle.

Suddenly Zero had an idea, raising his sniper rifle so he could look through the scope he aimed to the Bunker’s cannons, if they managed to take them down the machine couldn’t shoot at them anymore, and the explosion would cause more damage than their bullets could. His theory proved to be right as the aircraft’s right side was engulfed in flames as soon as it was disarmed, he watched the damaged machine take off in the distance.

“Good job Zero, that was awe-“ Axton was cut off as he was blown away from a mortar, he fell to the ground in pain, he could feel himself being carried away to safety right after, well more like dragged away but still someone managed to save him from being shot down and die as his shield was still down and needed to recharge from having absorbed most of the last impact.

“You okay amigo?” he could hear the Gunzerker ask, the soldier wanted to say he was but an intense pain from his now bleeding leg said otherwise. From his position he could see Maya hurrying over to his side as well, she crouched next to him and he already knew what her intention was.

“Stay still, I’ve got you” she reassured him, her left arm flared with energy as she reached to his wound but he stopped her hand with his own before she could get near enough.

“Don’t waste your powers over me, the battle is not over yet” he said and his statement was confirmed by the sound of the rest of the group shooting at the loaders that were trying to sneak up on them, they were all promptly destroyed though.

“We can’t win this without you, so shut up and let me heal you” the siren scowled as she forcefully made Axton release the grip he had on her wrist by tearing away his hand with her other free one. The soldier didn’t say more and let Maya do her thing, he hissed as her glowing hand made contact with him, the stinging sensation in his leg subsided quickly, replaced by the warmith of the siren’s healing powers.

He glanced at her face, she had her eyes closed, her brows furrowed in concentration, he wondered how much brain power it took her to use her powers the way she did. She always made it look so easy, as if there wasn’t any effort from her part at all, yet he knew it wasn’t and her current expression just confirmed it. When the warm feeling faded he knew she was done.

“Oh crap he’s back!” they heard Gaige shout as the aircraft came back “We’re coming!” Axton replied as he picked himself off the ground, the recent wound still stung a bit but at least it was closed now, Maya followed, SMG in hand.

Zero aimed to snipe down the second cannon that showed up on the machine but he wasn’t fast enough and he was shot down too, his shield held up but he was flung into Krieg that was behind him.

“GET UP YOU’VE GOT PEOPLE TO HURT!” the Psycho yelled as he pulled the Assassin back on his feet. “Thank you” Zero spoke as he aimed once more.

“I’ll help too” Maya says as she pulls out her own sniper rifle, she wasn’t as good as Zero was but if needed she could lend a hand too. In no time the second cannon was destroyed and the machine took off into the distance once more.

“Krieg you’ve got to help us shooting that thing too” the siren urges and he looks at her with a confused expression. He did have guns with him of course, but he never liked to use them, actually the crazier part of him didn’t.

“Come on big guy, we know you can shoot too” Gaige continues. “Please Krieg” Maya pleads.

The Psycho said nothing, his hands reaching for a weapon that was in his ECHO, An SMG of the Tediore brand and fiddles with it with his large fingers. He recognized it, it was one of the weapons he got from his companions, from the siren.

He had found this weapon in a chest, he knew that Maya loved this kind of weapons so he thought to give it to her as a gift, but instead the siren just smiled and refused the gift, he was confused at first but she claimed that he needed it more than her.

“Krieg you’re always going around killing stuff with your axe, but you can’t always do that” she said, he gave her a confused look.

“I know you’re strong but you never know what’s going to happen, rushing in battle like that is dangerous, sometimes you just have to lay back and stay far to protect yourself, so please…” she pushes the gun further into his hands “Keep this, do this for me, please big guy” 

So the Psycho decided to keep the gun on him, though he barely found any use to it, he just kept it to not make Maya angry at him. Though now it was the best option he had, after all what he was doing was laying back and watch the others fight the huge flying machine, he wasn’t feeling useful the slightest. In the end he gave up his own likings to do something good that would please the others and mostly the siren, so as soon as the Bunker was back in range he started shooting at it.

“NOBODY KILLS MY MEAT BUDDIES!” he shouted at it.

The others joined in, and in a matter of minutes they managed to finally take down the hellish machine with no more hits taken, it was easier than how they previously thought. Nonetheless they took a moment to breathe before continuing, taking their time to restock as well.

Once more Axton approached Maya which was now sitting on the ground to rest a bit.

“Well, thanks for saving my ass once more” he says.

“Anytime” she shrugs.

“You sure you’re okay though?” he asks, worried that she might have used too much power to heal him, he knew sirens could get very tired from using their powers continuously.

“I’m okay don’t worry” she flexes her left arm “There’s still plenty of power in here”

Axton nods. “You’re ready to meet Angel then?”

“I am” she nods back.

“Let’s see what’s the big secret is then”


	3. Death's Core

The chamber shook violently under the weight of the fallen Bunker, the sound of the machine exploding resonated through the entire place. Angel allowed herself a smile, this was music to her ears, the Vault Hunters she put her trust into managed to get past this obstacle as well.

She was worried, of course she was, she knew the capabilities of the Bunker and she was afraid it would have managed to shoot down all of them, but the experience and their teamwork saved them from that, she was glad she chose the right people to rely on. The same people Jack was so much afraid of, and she couldn’t be more pleased.

Though now it was her turn to do her part, she helped them to get make the voice modulator for the Hunters to get to her chambers, now it was time to tell them the password. She patiently waited for them to gather their energies back and reach the scanner before speaking those words she should love yet she hated so much.

She sighed heavily “The password is…” she swallowed thickly “I love you…”

God, she hated those words, she hated them so much! Every kid would like to hear their father say this to them, but not her, because the was Jack spoke those words was not sincere, it has never been and it will never be, he didn’t love her, he just desired her powers for his own gain.

She pushed away her thoughts to focus on what was to come, she had to prepare herself to face the Vault Hunters, the Siren in particular, she hoped that at least her would be willing to listen, and hopefully to help her be free, she had faith in her kind. 

 

Axton held the voice modulator near his mouth and spoke the password, after a few tense seconds the door opened, giving them access to the elevator inside. Of course Jack had to make contact and say another of his warnings, about killing everyone is Sanctuary, but they knew it didn’t have any meaning, now that wasn’t on the ground anymore the city was even safer than before, if Jack could he would have destroyed it already. Ignoring him Gaige pressed the button on the elevator and it went down.

“Eridium alone could never charge the Vault Key. It needs a catalyst, something to awaken its power. It needs... a Siren” Angel spoke through their ECHOs. 

Maya’s eyes widened as she heard those words, her mind sent into a spiral of thoughts. Was a siren here? Would she get to see her? As if she heard her, Angel spoke again.

“Jack acquired his Siren catalyst a long time ago. He kept her hidden from the world for years, but finally, you will be able to set her free”

This answered some questions, another siren was there beside Maya there, and setting her free it would mean they would meet, but it didn’t quite explain why she felt that worried feeling for Angel unless… unless Angel was said siren…

The thought made Maya’s heart race, she knew one of her kind all along and she didn’t realize it? But if Angel was really a siren what reason did she have to work for Jack? Too many questions and so little answers.

Lost in her thoughts the Siren didn’t notice that the elevator came to a stop, that tore away from her musings, and if they were somehow true she was bound to find out soon, and she couldn’t decide if she was excited or scared. She bit her lip nervously.

Axton watched her as she did so, he kept an eye on her the entire time Angel was talking to them, he tried to imagine what was going on in Maya’s mind, it must have felt as if a bomb came crashing down on her, no wonder she was nervous, much like everyone else, but for her it must be even worse to handle.

“I detect you're getting closer. Hurry and reach me, you must get the Vault Key and... deal with me” Angel spoke again with urgency.

Maya was the first to rush to the door, unable to stand still anymore, she wanted answers and she wanted them now. She came to a halt when she reached a panel with a button, she lifted her shaky hand and pressed it harder than she intended to.

“Executing Phaseshift” they heard Angel say and all of a sudden the room changed shape, it digistructed completely and the Vault Key did the same, it hovered in front of them.

“The key is here, but…” Angel paused. “To truly stop Jack from waking the Warrior, you cannot just steal the Vault Key, you must destroy his catalyst” the key disappeared and in its place her face appeared.

“You must destroy...” there was a blinding flash of something else digistructing in the room, a figure with a pair of white wings, no, it was a person, a girl, with black hair, blue eyes and, white markings on the left side of her body… a siren. 

“… me” Angel finished her speech turning her head toward them, her blue eyes scanning them, they were visibly shaken and astonished, they just stared at her seemingly unable to utter a word, even the Psycho and she couldn’t blame them. She had crushed their certainties in a matter of just a few minutes with just a bunch of words, very heavy words.

She watched as the other siren gathered the courage to approach her, Angel could see that she was visibly shaking, but she couldn’t tell why, she just hoped it wasn’t anger towards her. She hovered in place as the other woman extended a shaky hand toward her, Angel did the same, their fingers brushed slightly, as soon as they touched the other woman retracted her hand as if she had been shocked.

“You’re real…” Maya breathed, gray eyes boring into blue ones, Angel just nodded at her, feeling that no words were needed.

“I think it’s time for some explanations” Axton says, pretty much speaking for everyone, the young siren nodded again.

“Jack's spent years pumping me full of Eridium, using me to charge his Key and manipulate his enemies” she explains. 

So that was the reason behind her lies, there was always Jack behind everything she did to them, she didn’t want to betray them, Maya could feel it in her heart, if she truly wanted to harm them she could have left them to die that first day they found themselves together, when the train exploded and they were hurt and stranded on that glacier.

“Destroying the Eridium injectors that keep me... alive... will stop the Key from charging” Angel looks again at her fellow siren, she wasn’t surprised to see her eyes widen in fear. “And it will end a lifetime of servitude. Now-“ the younger siren didn’t get to finish as the strings of Eridium connected to her back forcefully pulled her back, she yelled as pain erupted in her body.

“You get the hell away from my daughter!” Jack’s voice erupted from the adjacent room, the hunters rushed over, Maya dashed over to Angel once more, she clawed at the barrier dividing them angrily, that was preventing her fellow siren to escape and kept her caged like an animal.

“What the hell are you doing, Angel?!” Jack roars once more, Maya could see the other siren glaring at one of the screen showing his face. “Stopping you, you piece of-“ he growled “Language!” he scolded her, Angel bit her lip.

Maya was fuming, not only Jack had confined his own daughter here and was using her to achieve his own crazy goals, but he also treated her like a two year old! She wanted to drag her nails all over his ugly face and rip his eyes out the way she was doing with the barrier dividing them.

Angel turned again to the Vault Hunters standing there “The Eridium injectors! Destroy them!” she urged, flying near the other siren once again. Axton raised his pistol and Maya closed her eyes tightly she didn’t want to watch, she didn’t want her fellow siren to die, but she knew she had to.

“Oh no you don't! Shields up!” Jack yelled, like he ordered the shields protected the injectors from the Commando’s shots. “Damn it” he cursed.

Angel released a growl, Jack really liked to mess with her life, but not this time, she was so close to her freedom, she wouldn’t let him have his way again, not anymore. 

Some loaders spawned behind them and started making their way to them too. “Oh crap! Loaders!” Gaige shrieked and she turned, shooting at them for reflex. Krieg immediately rushed at them axe in hand, as the others followed the Mechromancer’s lead, all except Maya, her hesitation wasn’t unnoticed though.

“Maya you need to go” Angel tells her, she watches as the other siren opened her mouth to say something but she cut her off “Just go, your friends need you” she saw her grit her teeth but she did leave.

“I'll try to expose the injectors, just hold on!” Angel tells the hunters, she raised her arms upwards, she was going to use all the powers she had to help them out. She closed her eyes and focused, looking for any weak spot in the system that could give her the possibility to strike it and lower the shields.

Beads of sweat formed on her forehead, it was hard to focus with all the sounds around her, guns shooting, loaders exploding, and the Vault Hunter’s screams and grunts. Angel grit her teeth and kept searching, she had almost found the code to hack the injector’s shields when pain surged through her skull, she grunted as she held her head, instantly Maya turned to her with a worried expression, ignoring everything that was going on around her at the moment.

Angel was going to tell her she was fine, that she had to keep fighting but instead her attention was stolen by the Loader that was sneaking up on her fellow siren “Look out! Behind you!” she yells. Maya had no time to run or shoot because right when she turned she was met with a metallic fist connecting with her face. The siren fell to the ground, knocked down by the overwhelming strength of the robot, her gun slipping from her hand.

Maya let out a wail as she was hit, she clenched her teeth as her head throbbed, thankfully she had her shield up but still it hurt like a bitch. She opened her eyes and immediately regretted it as what she saw what the same Loader that hit her moments before dancing back and forth before her, she blinked trying to clear her vision. She immediately reached for her gun and she panicked as she discovered it to be on the ground too far from her. She backed up but her back collided with the barrier, she saw that the Loader was preparing to hit her again, she closed her eyes in fear, waiting for the pain to come.

But it never did, there was a wild scream, followed by an explosion, she gathered the courage to open her eyes again, she saw Krieg standing before her, towering on the Loader, he extended a hand to her which she gladly took, the Psycho lifted her up with little effort.

“THE MEATMAN KEEPS THE PRETTY LADY SAFE!” Krieg roared and Maya smiled at him. “Thanks big guy, let’s go help the others” she lightly smacks his pecs before running over where her gun was to retrieve it. Once it was in her hands she wasted no time in releasing a burst of bullets on the nearest Loaders, covering them in acid.

“Bandit, if you keep this up, I'm heading down to blow your brains out myself. You hear me?!” Jack threatens, but the Hunters couldn’t care less, actually if he came there it would make the task of killing him even easier.

“He's lying, the coward would never face you in person!” Angel interjects, she knew Jack too well, he always had others do the work for him and then get all the glory. She resumes her efforts to expose the injectors, once more she was stopped by another intense headache, Jack had taken measures to counter her powers.

“I can't stop Jack's defenses! Be careful!” she says in defeat, probably Jack had guarded them in case she tried to escape by herself.

“Hey! Up here! Need a hand?” they all heard a voice calling, taking a quick glance up they noticed Roland, he finally managed to get there, and he couldn’t be more in time.

“Roland, I need you to lower the shields around my Eridium injectors!” Angel urges, she hoped he would help her, or at least help for the sake of the other Hunters.

Roland stared at the scene, his fellow Vault Hunters were fighting against a horde of Hyperion robots and then there was Angel in the middle, protected by a barrier of some sort, and she had… siren markings? “Uh... did I miss something, or is Angel a SIREN?!” he shouted.

“Yes she is, now help us!” Axton almost snarls covering behind his turret as he reloaded his rifle, he was getting tired of being assaulted by the Loaders, and his friends too he imagined.

“I meant NOW, Roland!” Angel spoke again, they didn’t have time to waste at all after all, she just hoped the others would hold on until Roland disabled the shields.

“Right, I'm on it!” the older soldier snapped back to reality, he immediately rushed to the first panel right ahead of him. The young siren allowed herself a tiny smile, seeing that he was doing what she requested, she flapped her wings and circled around as best she could to see how the rest of the Hunters were doing, thinking at a way to be somehow useful, digistructing ammunition seemed useful enough so she did.

She watches as Maya Phaselocks a series of Loaders and then recoil from the excessive strain, Krieg is near her and covers her as he waits for the siren to recover. Not too far away there was the Assassin sniping down the turret that was threatening to burn the Commando with its laser, he gave him a thumbs up to thank him for the help.

On the other side there was the Gunzerker going on a rampage shooting everything in his sight, not too far from him there was the Mechromancer tearing down the shock generators while her robot covered her.

“So this is how you bandits fight, is that it? You can't come straight for me, you’ve gotta kill an innocent girl?!” Jack’s spoke again.

“We would if you showed up you coward!” Gaige snarls. “Cabron!” Salvador cursed.

“FACE YOUR END LITTLE MOUSE!” Krieg echoes.

Maya, Axton and Zero decided not to say anything, though they thought exactly the same thing as the other three, they just didn’t want to bother with insults, Jack wasn’t worth of them either. It was all wasted breath.

“That's how he works, he'll try to guilt you, make you think it's your fault. Don't listen” Angel tells them. “Don’t worry, no one will believe him” Maya assures as she walks near her again.

“The shield’s down! Shoot the injector!” Roland’s voice came from above, Axton wasted no time in doing so. The injector exploded spilling the liquid Eridium everywhere and on them too.

Angel screamed as the Eridium stopped flowing in her veins, her entire body hurt from the sudden lost contact with the substance, she spasmed violently, waves of pain rippling through her entire being. It took her a bit to recover. 

Maya forced herself to tear away from the scene, she had to keep fighting, because if she died she would be no help to her fellow siren. She deserved freedom, even if it meant her death, it would always be better than living on like this.

In the meantime Roland had spawned his own turret out in the field for help, it also had a shield, it would be useful to protect them when they needed to. While he got to the second panel of the second injector.

Another scream was heard not much after, it was Gaige, who currently was getting shocked from a generator she unfortunately went too near to. Axton went to her aid by shooting it down seeing that Salvador was too busy with fighting a wave of loaders near them.

The Commando pulled the shaking girl to her feet, he carried her away from the middle of the field so she wouldn’t be harmed more than she already was. He set her down in a corner and looked her over, the girl was still shivering and she had burn marks all over her skin and her clothes were charred too. He checked her pulse, thankfully she was still with them, though he wasn’t sure she was still conscious.

“Maya get over here! It’s an emergency!” Axton called out for the Siren. “On it!” he saw her rush there right after taking down a few robots that tried to get in her way. She immediately dropped at their side, her markings already glowing.

“I’ll take it from here, you cover us” she tells him as she immediately started working on the redhead’s burns. He nodded at her and threw his turret near them for cover as he fought the loaders from the other side.

“You are endangering my baby girl. This is my vow, every friend, every child, every person you ever passed on the street. I'm gonna kill them all. You didn't follow the rules, bandit” Jack threatened. 

What rules? Axton thought, there were no rules on Pandora. It was either kill or be killed, simple as that. It was the only way you could live on this planet, survival was all that counted.

“Sweetheart, everything you could ever want is within these four walls. Angel, do you have any idea how much I've sacrificed for you? The bandits I've killed, the people I've manipulated, everything I've done was to protect YOU!” Jack once more spoke, but Angel was having none of it, she didn’t care what he said anymore, she just wanted him to leave her alone once and for all.

“Promise me you'll kill him, friend” she pleads. She didn’t care what he claimed to have done for her, she didn’t want anyone to die for her, she just wanted her father to love her, thing that he never did, no matter how many times he said so, it wasn’t true love he felt for her.

“I lowered the shield, hit the injector, now!” Roland shouted, he cursed as he fell from the platform right after, luckily he managed to catch himself to avoid getting hurt too much.

In the meantime as the soldier recovered the assassin shot the injector, and Angel braced herself for another wave of pain, she let out another agonizing scream, so loud that Maya had to cover her ears to not hear her, she couldn’t handle to hear a fellow siren suffering like that.

“It will be okay Maya, she’ll be free soon” Gaige, now conscious again, tried to cheer her friend up. She was young but she too had noticed this attachment sirens had with one another, Lilith and Maya in particular, and she could understand this reaction she had by hearing Angel. She probably would have been the same if she was in that situation herself, it was hard enough to ignore it by being of different kinds already.

“I know… but it’s hard to know she will die” the Siren grit her teeth while pushing herself up, she had to keep fighting despite the ache that settled in her left arm and the migraine she had gotten from using her powers a lot. She had pushed herself too far with healing up Gaige, but she wasn’t going to give up now, she had to keep going for Angel.

Gaige didn’t say more, not wanting to press further, now that she was back to her feet she launched herself in the battle again, she wasn’t going to let Maya’s efforts to heal her be wasted. She brought her back to her feet to fight and she would, she also called Deathtrap to her aid, not wanting to risk being hurt like that again. The Mechromancer knew Maya didn’t have much power in her left after helping her, even if she would never say it out loud. Her friend was way too prideful about her powers.

“Dammit, now I can't reach the last injector panel. I don't know what-“ Roland cursed as he shoot at a Loader. He was interrupted by a familiar voice.

“How ya doin'?” they saw a flash of purple and then Lilith materialized in the room.

“Lilith?! What the hell?! I told you not to come!” Roland yelled at her. “Yeah, and I didn't listen!” she nonchalantly replied.

She had teleported near Angel, the younger siren staring at her, she looked at the enemies coming toward her and then back to Angel, she winked. “Hey, look, bad guys!” she immediately dashed over to them with her Phasewalk and made quick work of them.

Lilith had listened through the whole thing through the Vault Hunter’s ECHOs, so she knew what was going on. Without her help it was very unlikely that Roland could manage to reach the last panel by himself in this mess, also she wouldn’t say it to anyone, but she felt some empathy for Angel too, after hearing the truth. She did want to help her be free from that asshole of a father that Jack was. She had already seen how cruel he could be during her time on Elpis, but this was way past the limit.

Roland sighed in defeat and rushed over where the red-haired siren was. “Lilith we’ve gotta move” he says, she nodded and thrusted a hand forward, her markings glowed brightly as she focused on him, she successfully teleported him on the last platform where the last panel was. Once done she focused on helping the others.

Taking a quick look around she saw Maya stumbling and falling forward, from the looks of it she was deadly tired. She Phasewalks right where the other siren was, taking out a Loader that was approaching her.

“I’ve got ya” she helped the blue haired siren back to her feet, lifting her up by an arm. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw how unsteady Maya’s legs were, she indeed was tired. She decided to stick close to her to help her out and make sure she didn’t get shot to death.

“Please. Okay. Are you hearing me? Please don't kill my baby girl” Jack pleaded from wherever he was, but none of the people present in the room was listening to him, if not it was glorious to hear Handsome Jack beg like that.

“Don't you know what you're DOING?! Who cares about the goddamn Key, you're gonna end the life of an innocent girl!” He begged again, Angel let out a snarl in his direction.

“Jack ended my life a long time ago. This has to end NOW, Vault Hunter” she said, it was the truth, she didn’t consider this a life since she was put there, not anymore. She didn’t care what happened afterwards, she was tired of having to serve him, she wanted to die.

“I got the shield down! Hit the injector!” Roland yelled at them for what it would have been the last time. Zero raised his rifle, glancing in Angel’s direction, she gave him a nod, she was ready. The assassin pulled the trigger, once getting the consent he needed, he had no regrets.

Angel felt another wave of pain cripple her body, she collapsed on the cold ground, barely holding herself up with a trembling hand, her whole being shaking all over but she had a smile on her face. “It's done. It's finally done. Thank you... friend.” She breathed, her voice barely audible.

Lilith and Maya were by her side almost instantly, the blue haired siren had her arm raised, though when she tried to access her powers her markings remained the same usual blue, they weren’t glowing, still she tried. The Firehawk grasped her wrist lightly. “It’s useless…” she murmured.

Maya held her head low in defeat, she bit her lip so hard that is bleed. This wasn’t right, Angel didn’t have to die for her father’s selfishness, it was unfair. All the power she had and it was useless, Angel was dying before her and she couldn’t do a thing to stop it. It was so painful to watch her go.

She and Lilith both held Angel’s hand, the one marked with white tattoos, similar to their own blue ones. It was all they could do for her, give her some sort of comfort as she passed.

“Angel, you can STOP this. I'll still forgive you, baby!” Jack’s voice reached them again. The Vault Hunters wanted to yell at him for being such an asshole even in this moment, but they held themselves back when they heard Angel say something.

“Dad, I have to tell you something...” she gasped, her chest felt so tight that it was painful to do anything, but she had something to say before going forever. “You're an asshole” she managed before collapsing completely on Maya.

The blue haired siren held the poor girl closer to her passing a hand through her black hair as she exhaled her last breaths. Lilith scooted closer as well, she rubbed Angel’s back in a soothing way, feeling her rise and fall with each breath, until she didn’t move anymore.

The Firehawk stole at glance at Maya, her face was held low and partially obscured by Angel’s one, but the way she shook could tell her she was fighting hard not to cry.

“What kind of person would do this to their own daughter?” she spoke angrily, slowly removing herself from Angel’s body and standing up, completely ignoring Jack’s shouts.

“The kind of guy who deserves to die” came Roland’s response, as he patiently waited for Maya to do the same as Lilith. It took longer but she eventually let go of Angel as well and joined the other Hunters once more.

Axton placed a hand on her bare shoulder. “She’s in a better place now” he tells her trying to make her feel a bit better, somehow. He only receives a nod as response, her eyes still looking at the fallen siren.

“Jack just lost his only way to awaken the Warrior” Roland tells them as he tears his gaze away from Angel and turns to everyone else, Lilith standing at his side.

“We’ve got the Vault Key, but this isn’t over yet. We’ve gotta find Jack and take him out” he receives a nod from everyone, he turns to Lilith. “Lilith take the Vault Key to Tannis, I’m going after Jack”

He didn’t manage to say more as a shot went straight through him from his back, his blood spraying all over the shocked Vault Hunters.

“ROLAND!” came Lilith’s desperate cry as he dropped dead right in front of them.

“Sup” Jack nonchalantly materialized in the room right behind where Roland stood before, calmly sheathing his gun back in his ECHO. Lilith immediately turned to him, her expression of pure rage. Her markings immediately flaring to life, fire wings erupting from her back.

“You bastard, I’m gonna-“ she leaped to him but with a swift movement he slapped a collar around her neck before she could do anything. The collar immediately sapped all her powers, she fell on the ground on her back from being weakened so suddenly. Her hands flew to her neck, desperately trying to take the device off her.

Zero and Krieg tried to attack him with their sword and axe respectively as the others reached for their guns, but Jack had been quicker than them, he lifted Lilith up and held her in front of him using her as a shield, forcing the Vault Hunters to stop in their tracks to not harm her.

“What’s that saying? Don’t pick a fight with a man with nothing left to lose? See I’m going to show you how much you have to lose, and I got the most powerful Siren on the planet to do it with” he spoke, while holding said siren steady as she trashed around wildly, trying to break free from his grip.

“Lilith, kill the Vault Hunters. We’ve got a date to keep with the Warrior” he spoke in her hear, his voice making her collar flare to life.

The Siren could feel her powers come to life despite herself not wanting them to, the collar she was wearing sending shocks to her brain to force her to use them. She screamed as her hand raised by itself in front of her, a purple aura beginning to surround the Vault Hunters that couldn’t do a thing but wait for the end. There was no escape from a Siren’s power, and they knew it.

“Do it, Lilith” Jack wickedly smiled.

“NO!” she tried with all her might not to release the energy, but all her resistance was useless. A purple flash was all the Vault Hunters saw, before everything went black.


	4. Agony of the Heart

Pain, it was all Zero could feel when he opened his eyes, he let out an involuntary groan as he tried to sit up and gain his bearings, he wasn’t dead, somehow, he wondered if the others were too.

I didn’t take long for him to have his answer, he could notice his friends all lying on the ground, all pretty much unconscious, though he could see the soldier stir.

“I feel like I was hit by a train…” Axton groaned, another couple of whines joined his.

“A train named Lilith…” Gaige said as she exhaled sharply.

“Freaking sirens” the Gunzerker shook his head and rubbed his eyes to get rid of the dizziness.

“PRETTY LADY!” Krieg suddenly roared making everyone in the room cover their ears.

“Krieg, please, don’t scream” Gaige moaned, her head was still throbbing badly.

“No, he’s right” Axton suddenly realizes, he crawled over to the only figure that was still lying motionless on the cold ground, he takes her wrist and feels if her heart was still beating, thankfully it was.

“She’s alive” he tells the others, relief evident in his voice. He calls her softly yet she doesn’t budge. The soldier gives a sigh and gently slaps her cheek, trying to wake her up. Finally he was rewarded as her gray eyes slowly opened.

“Axton?” she grits her teeth, struggling to sit up, he helps her to do so. “Where are we?” she speaks lowly.

“Good question/ We don’t know/ I shall look” Zero answers her as he takes his ECHO to look at the map. “Sanctuary” he says.

“Oh good, so we didn’t get killed and we’re back home as well” Gaige smiles, though her happiness was cut short.

“Would you say so of Roland too?” Axton spoke, these words fell heavy on their shoulders. “And Angel” the siren whispered, looking down on the ground.

“Yeah…” Gaige sighed. “And Lilith is held captive too” she looks up at the ceiling. 

“Today should have been victorious/ But it wasn’t/ And we lost 3 people” Zero says in his usual robotic voice, it sounded like he wasn’t shaken like his friends were, but the reality was that he was as much as them. Someone had to keep cool and he was that one, he silently thanked his voice modulator that achieved the goal for him.

Before more words could be exchanged, Mordecai barged in the room, followed by Brick. “What the hell happened!? First Bloodwing, now this!?” he raged. “Vault Hunters we need to talk”

“What is there to say!?” Maya snaps at him. “There’s nothing you don’t know already! We failed”

The sniper opened his mouth to counter but he was stopped by a large hand on his shoulder, he glanced back at Brick, who shook his head. “I know you’re sad friend, but so are they, there’s no need to put more weight on their shoulders” he says. “Roland wouldn’t blame them”

Mordecai looked back and forth between him and back at the Siren, which was still glaring at him, he then sighed. “You’re right… he wouldn’t” he lowered his gaze. “I’m sorry”

It was true, he had been unfair, he was too shaken to think straight, thankfully Brick was there to stop him, or he would have done something he would have regretted forever. Roland may not have been with them anymore, and it was hard to accept, but he knew the risks he had taken, that they all did, and actually they had been lucky that it didn’t end up worse, with all of them gone. They were still there, there was still hope, they had to keep fighting, that’s what Roland would have wanted.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down and think at the priorities, Lilith was still held captive and they had to find her and rescue her. “So, you should see Zed and get treated, we can’t help Lilith if we’re not in top shape”

No one said more, agreeing with Mordecai, though as she passed near him the Siren gave him a pointed look. He averted his gaze to the ground again, though through his googles it couldn't be seen. Obviously the Siren must have been the one that was the most shaken, not that the rest of them weren't as well. But he knew, he had listened through the whole convo together with Brick and Lilith, before she decided to teleport away. A good choice, yet not, but at the time it seemed the most logical thing to do as they needed her help.

The group left the place without a word, ignoring Marcus' shouts and curses behind them. Just as they did someone they wouldn't expect made contact with them.

Lilith's face showed up on their HUDs, just the way Angel's used to, though, from the looks of it, the red haired Siren didn't look well at all, her voice confirmed it when she spoke moments later. Maya trembled with anger the entire time she listened.

 

"Are you okay? Did I get you to Sanctuary?" Lilith breathed, struggling to keep the pain out of her voice, though it wasn't working so well. "I feel... wrong... this device Jack's using on me" she managed before being forcefully cut off from the collar, the thing was giving her the worst headache she ever felt, not allowing her to concentrate enough to even keep talking, much less to keep contact. Hopefully hearing her reassured them enough.

“You sneaky little bitch! You were on the ECHO weren’t you?” she heard Jack’s voice growl as he entered in the cell where she was being held, strapped down with heavy chains around her arms and legs that limited her movements, and of course, the damned collar. The room was entirely dark, she couldn’t see much, but she could hear people from the other side of the wall talking, but she couldn’t make up much. She had no idea what was in there.

“What? Do you think you could have reassured them?” he chuckles “Fool, it doesn’t matter whatever you say, once I’m done with you I’ll kill you” he says coldly, stalking in her direction. He grasped her chin in a not so gentle manner and forced her to look at him, her yellow eyes fiercely glared at him.

“You know… you actually surprise me” he fingers the collar with his free hand. “You know for who this was designed for don’t you? Didn’t think it would work with another siren” she growled at him.

“You sick fuck! Argh!” she was cut off by another shock. “Language” he scolded her. 

“I am not your daughter!” she spat, she saw his eye twitch and suddenly the hand that was touching her collar was around her neck.

“Don’t you dare speak of Angel!” his hand tightened, she gasped, struggling to breathe, but still she didn’t drop her glare.

“It was your own fault…” she said lowly. “I was protecting her!” Jack showed Lilith on the ground, releasing her neck. “All I did was for her!”

The Siren struggled to pick herself off the ground but she managed, she stared at him with another blazing look, her eyes literally burning. “And that is protection to you!?” she tried to lunge at him but the chains held her down, she once again cursed the collar for forbidding her to use her abilities.

“You caged her in that facility and used her powers for your own desires, like a slave” she angrily spoke through gritted teeth. “You’re a monster!”

“Shut up!” Jack swiftly punched her in the face, once again the siren found herself on the ground, blood trickling from her nose. Lilith felt his hand grab her hair, Jack pulled her up with them for her to look at him again. “You have no idea what’s coming to you, you child murderer” he threatened before releasing her and storming out of the room.

“You’re going to pay…” the Siren gasps. This time she doesn’t rise from her position, instead she curls up and sobs. She was all threatening and all but what could she do in her position? With no powers, no strength, and no Roland around to help her… she was lost. 

 

“And then the coward asshole appears and BOOM! Blood flies everywhere and Roland is dead” Gaige drunkenly slurs at Moxxi, she flails her arms around wildly, an empty glass in her human hand.

After being patched up by Zed, the Vault Hunters found themselves at Moxxi’s bar to drink away their sorrows, for as little as it helped there was nothing else they could do right now though.

The young Mechromancer was currently filling up the bartender of the recent happenings, along with drinking a lot of alcohol. The Assassin sat next to her, not actually drinking anything, he was there to make sure the girl didn’t end up doing something stupid, he did had to catch her a few times to avoid her falling off the stool she was sitting on, as she didn’t stay still for a second. Not too far away in another stool there was Mordecai, but he was drinking his own ale and not talking at all.

On their left side, sitting in a booth there were the remaining hunters, Krieg was in the corner, his mask was raised that little bit that allowed him to eat, but unlike the usual he wasn’t devouring everything he had under his nose, and not even babbling nonsense, he was just there, nibbling on a piece of meat. For as crazy as he was, he understood something really bad happened, at least the sane part of him did.

Axton and Salvador were there too, chatting on whatever was on their mind besides their recent loss, to try to distract themselves from reality, even if briefly. And then there was Maya, the Siren was sitting next to them, she was supporting her head with her hand, her gray eyes stared down at her still full glass of rakk ale, her expression empty, no movements or sounds came from her, nothing.

Every now and then the Psycho would steal a glance to her from behind his mask, to see if anything changed, if she did anything, or said anything but absolutely nothing came from her, she was just physically there, but her mind was of course elsewhere. He actually wanted to try to say something to her, the crazier side, to distract her, but his sane side convinced him to stay silent, that anything he would have said would have irritated her even more, given the state she was currently in she wasn’t in the mood to deal with his shit, most likely. He knew the Siren was usually patient, but she too had her limits.

The Commando and Gunzerker instead, decided to carry on their conversation by themselves, not wanting to push her either, but they were still there to keep her company, if that was useful at all. Axton, that was sitting next to Maya, had tried to put a hand on her shoulder to try to make her feel better, but she had pushed him away immediately.

All of a sudden they saw Maya shoot up from her seat, spilling her drink in the process, though it didn’t look like she noticed. She just stormed out of the place.

“I’ll follow her” Axton says as he too stands up and leaves, he was worried that the Siren might do something stupid. Krieg followed after them too.

 

The two found the Siren sitting on the roof of the Crimson Raider’s Base, she was facing Sanctuary and not the clouds under it, so it was somehow positive. Still she didn’t look any better than before, if back at the bar she kept staring at nothing, now she was hugging her knees, her face hidden from her arms, and from the way her shoulder’s shook it only meant one thing… she was crying, and they knew that Maya never cried, no matter what happened, no one ever saw her do that once.

“Maya?” Axton called out softly as he slowly walked in her direction, sadly no response came from her.

“Pretty lady” Krieg called for her too, surprisingly not yelling this time, but still nothing.

“Maya” Axton calls her again, he touches her shoulder, she flinches, but this time she turns in his direction, half of her face remains covered by her arms, but he can clearly see tears falling from her eyes, her blue lips trembling. She hides her face again after a moment, feeling ashamed.

The soldier’s expression softens as he sees that, he circles her shoulders with his arm, she doesn’t pull away from him this time. “Hey now… there’s no need to be ashamed” he speaks softly, still she stubbornly keeps her face hidden.

“Everyone has its sad moments, crying is normal for everyone” he pulls her closer, letting her place her head on his chest.

“I don’t…” she sniffs. “Sirens don’t cry…” she shakes her head.

“Maya, you may have freakily strong universe bending powers, but you’re not any different from any of us, you still feel emotions like everyone else does” she doesn’t answer him, she just keeps sobbing, soaking his jacket with her tears but he didn’t care as long as it helped the Siren feel better.

He motions with his head to the Psycho to join them, he quietly makes his way to them, he crouches beside them but he doesn’t actually do anything, he looked unsure, almost afraid. ‘Go ahead big guy, show her you care’ his inner voice speaks, he lifts one big hand and then slowly, and carefully, places it on her quivering shoulder. ‘Well done big guy, you’re learning’ the voice speaks again, Krieg lets out a small, pleased sound.

Axton tightens the hold he has on Maya, trying to make her feel more at ease. “Just let it all out, let it all out” he speaks softly.

The soldier heard some steps heading their way, craning his head back he saw the remaining trio of their team of Vault Hunters. Salvador was walking in front, followed by Zero who was supporting a pretty drunk Gaige.

“We were worried/ So we followed/ We paid Moxxi” Zero tells them, as the three had left in such a rush he paid for them all, the bartender was kind enough to make them a discount too, given the current overall mood of pretty much the entire Sanctuary.

Axton nods at him he turns his attention back to the crying Siren, her sobbing had ceased slightly, he noticed that she had her head turned away from the rest of the group, probably she still felt embarrassed to be seen like that.

“What’s wrong chica?” the Gunzerker asks in an unusual soft voice, despite his looks he was still able to care for his friends.

“Nothing…” Maya sniffs in Axton’s chest.

“Doesn’t look like nothing M” the young Mechromancer says as she wobbles over to where the Siren was and flops down on the ground too. Zero and Salvador shared a look, then with a shrug they decided to join too.

“What’s the problem? You can tell us” Gaige presses on, though Axton knew that Maya wasn’t someone who liked to share too many details on personal things, and he felt that this was one. During the time the group had been together he learned to notice when something was off with the Siren, and he remembered her having the same grim look on her face the day she told them about the place where she lived before, and that power hungry monk.

“Gaige I don’t think that-“ he starts but he’s quickly stopped by the woman he was still holding in his arms, she gently put a finger on his lips. He paused a second in his musing to notice how soft it felt.

“It’s okay” she says, raising her head to meet the other’s eyes, her own gray ones were puffy and red from crying so much. “After making so much of a fuss about it I should give you an explanation”

“Maya are you-“ again the soldier was cut off from her the same way as before. “Shut up” she gives him a stern look. There it was the Siren he was used to see.

“She’s got you” Gaige giggled in the background, clearly not quite coherent, still he gave her a slight glare which only made her laugh more. 

A small smile formed on Maya’s lips as she looked at them, but it went away as quickly as it came as she thought again on the mess they just went through and sighed. “Where to start?” she says more to herself than anyone else.

“With whatever you feel more comfortable I guess” Axton tells her, sounding more obvious and awkward than ever. “Is it about Roland? Or Lilith? Or…”

“CAGED BIRDIE!” Krieg suddenly shouted, cutting off the Commando.

“Let’s say about all of them” the Siren continues. “Well you know Roland was our leader, he was kind and all, and I’m sure he will be dearly missed”

“Roland was a honorable man/ Jack is a coward/ What an inglorious death” The emoticon of a frown appears on Zero’s helmet as he speaks, indicating that he too was upset like them. The assassin wasn’t one that liked to compliment other people, but the soldier was an exception, he was a man of honor, and looked after them. Kindness was something more unique than rare on this planet.

“A Jackass…” the Mechromancer crossed her arms and pouted angrily.

“HURT HIM!” the Psycho shouts. “Hell yeah amigo!” Maya nods and smiles at their enthusiasm for wanting to kill Jack, even more than they already did. 

“I have to admit that having someone I could relate as experience about military life was quite pleasant, was nice to have someone who actually knew what meant to be at war, and how it felt” Axton find himself confessing, he and Roland liked to share stories of their past times as soldiers when they could, during the few quiet times they had to rest.

“Someone who understood you… I thought that too of Lilith, she’s a siren, I’m a siren, and Angel was too…” the Siren spoke, she stared at her marked hand intently. “Yet, despite all this power I couldn’t help them…” she clenched her fist and angrily punched the ground, scraping her knuckles. “Useless…” she muttered.

The others exchanged looks, not sure what to do and what to say, trying to avoid the Siren’s wrath. It didn’t take long before said woman spoke again. 

“If I was stronger… if I had more power I could have saved them… I let Angel die and I doomed Lilith to death too” she grit her teeth in anger, her tattoos lighting up slightly, showing her distressed state.

“It wasn’t you fault Maya, you weren’t the only person in there, we were too” Axton says, trying to ease her worries.

“Angel was ready/ Saw it in her eyes/ Death was her salvation” the Assassin spoke up. It had been sad to see the girl go, but certainly they gave her what she desired, what she asked and put her trust into them to do this.

“I came to this planet to know more about my lineage, and the only two people I ever met that knew what meant to be a siren are gone” the Siren shot a glare to Zero, but not because she was angry at him, more to her own self.

“THE FIRE STILL BURNS!” Krieg yelled, the others frowned trying to understand then Gaige slammed her fist into the palm of her metal arm. “Of course, Lilith, he means that she’s still alive, don’t you big guy?” she received a growl and a nod from him, the Mechromancer grinned.

“And for how long? God knows what that psychopathic is doing to her right now! If I was-“ Maya was cut off by Axton this time. “Don’t give us that again, Lilith is alive, maybe not in top shape, but she lives, and we know that Jack needs her to charge the key, he can’t kill her, we still have a chance to save her”

“Si chica, don’t worry, that hijo de puta will not win, this man will make sure he’ll suffers hell” Salvador puffed his chest out, that ugly masked coward needed to be taught a painful lesson. Krieg made a growl of approval at his words.

“But if she didn’t come…” the Siren continued. “You think that jackass would have stopped? He would have got you Maya, things would have gone the same way, if not worse” the Commando spoke again.

“We could all be dead, but we’re still here kicking asses, he’s got nothing on us!” Gaige loudly screamed, pumping her fists in the air, only to fall on her back because of her drunkenness. Zero put her back in a sitting position as she giggled at her own clumsiness. 

Axton looked at the girl, for being in a not sober state of mind she surely still talked sense, he had to give her credit for that. “Gaige is right, but we need you too” he said, returning his attention to the Siren he still had his arm wrapped around to. “Come on, I know you’re dying to blow Jack’s brain out of his head”

“Of course I am” Maya scowled at him, she would have been crazy if she didn’t want revenge on the Hyperion bastard after all he did, to their leader, their siren friend and also his own daughter.

“Then focus on that and not on all those negative thoughts, if not use them to fuel and release your anger on him when we’ll have the occasion to” he gently squeezed her shoulder, she sighed.

“All right… I’ll try to do that” the Siren looked at them all, one by one. “Sorry I made such a big deal out of this” she shot them an apologetic look.

“It’s fine M” Gaige just grinned at her.

“It’s a bad moment/ You reacted like this/ No shame in crying” Zero projected her a smile emoticon.

“All good chica” Salvador gave her a thumbs up.

“See? It’s all okay, it’s normal to have doubts Maya, we all do, but we’re here to cheer you up whenever you’ll need it” I’m here for you, Axton would have wanted to say but he kept it to himself.

The Siren wiped her eyes. “Thanks everyone” she gave them a smile, only to receive others back from the rest of the group.

“We should sleep/ Been a long day/ Must be in shape tomorrow” Zero spoke as he got up from the ground, followed by the others as they went back inside to get some much needed rest, Axton and Maya trailed behind their friends.

“Can I ask you something? You’re free not to answer” the Commando asked, he had a pressing question to ask her since he saw her all sad.

“That’s fine”

“Have you ever lost someone close to you before today?”

Maya’s eyes widened at the question, she looked away from him, her hesitation didn’t go unnoticed by the man near her. “I… well no, I never did, never had anyone I cared about either”

“So that explains it”

“What?”

“Your reaction for what happened earlier, no wonder you were so shocked before, must have been a new feeling for you wasn’t it?” 

“It was, but I would have rather not have known how it felt like, its awful, like-“

“Like something is ripping you from inside, a constant torment and knowledge that if you did better things would have gone differently” he says, not letting her finish.

“You seem familiar with it”

“When you’re in the army you can’t not be familiar with said feelings, you see your companions, your friends, the people you care about die all the time, and there’s nothing you can do to avoid it, just accept it” he explains her.

“And how do you deal with it?” she demands, obviously clueless.

“The best way I have found is to focus on what good you have left, we have lost some friends but we still have a chance to kill Jack and get Lilith back, because we’re alive and we’re angry” he grins at her, she nods. 

“I think I understand now, thanks Ax”

“Anytime sweetie, if you’re still feeling sad I can keep you company oof-“ he grunted as she elbowed him in the stomach.

“Don’t push your luck soldier” she chuckles, leaving him alone right after.

“What a woman…” he whispers looking up at the sky before heading to his room to catch some sleep too, feeling pretty content that Maya was now feeling better, he hoped this would help her in the following days too.


End file.
